05 October 2010

Consumers go 'brown'

USA Today notes that Frito-Lay is sending their compostable Sun Chips bags back to the design team for some re-tooling. This story is illustrative of a couple of things. First, consumers, despite what popular sentiment would have us believe, actually have the power in the marketplace. And, second, consumers are concerned more with the aesthetics of the products they buy than with being 'green'. I think this second point is especially important because it is a perfect example of the power of the market to determine what people really care about. While everyone is out proclaiming the need to protect the environment, they're unwilling, in this particular case at least, to put their money where their mouths are.